Time for an upgrade

[Luminance]

Hey guys,

I've been looking to change my pc into something more game compatible. I've been pending a lot between a laptop, and a shuttle-ish size pc. However I found that it would cost me to much to get a system I have in mind. Now, I'm not that good at building pc's, have little experience with it, and I'm not 100% up to date on the components and how they would fit together.

I did manage to scrape something together, and I'd like your professional opinions on it.

What I'm looking for is a good gaming pc, roughly between 700-900 euros (700-800 pounds).

And this is what I have so far:

# Description pieces, Price p.p (exclusive VAT 19%).                                                                      
  Case - Antec Sonata  Elite Black, (no power supply) - €63,03                            
Power supply - Corsair CX400  400 Watt  ActivePFC, 20+24 Pins, 80 Plus  Rating - €41,18
Cooler - Asus Arctic  Square  - €21,00                                                                    
Chip - Intel Core I3  530 2.93 GHz, 2x 256kB - €86,55                                                
Motherboard       - GigaByte  GA-H55M-UD2H - €75,62      
Memory - GeIL Value Dual  Channel 4 GB, PC3-10666, 1333 MHz, 7, Non-ECC,  Kit Of 2 - €89,08                                                                    
Videocard - XFX Radeon HD  5770 XXX 1024 MB       -      Ã¢â€šÂ¬135,29
 Harddisk - Samsung  Spinpoint F3 1 TB, 7200 Rpm, 32 MB, S-ATA II/300 -  Ã¢â€šÂ¬65,54      
DVD Rewriter - LG GH22LS30  S-ATA, Bulk, Black - €31,89                                                
Total articles - €609,18
VAT (19%)     - €115,74
Total inc VAT  - €724,92

So what do you guys think? Where can I shave off, or what should I improve? What would work better together?

edit:
I like the looks better from the case:
Antec Gamersgear 900 Nine hundred black. - €64,70 ex - is €76,99 inc VAT

And maybe this videocard is a better buck for my money:
XFX Radeon HD 5830 1024 mb - €186,55 is €222,- inc vat

[Snokio]

looks pretty good so far mate, although, I would go for an i5 rather than an i3, but then again, i don't know if there is a huge difference :g:
 
USB3 on motherboard to consider? or is this too new? (only just come out i  believe)
 

[T-Bag]

400Watt PSU is a little low, and if you can move to an i5 you'll be in a better position.

[Luminance]

I thought, because the intel i5 670 has 400 more benchmark points (3100) but it costs 170 euros more, (i3 is €84) it would be a shame.

I'd rather go for the Intel core I7 860 1mb, that one has top marks (5551 points) and costs 185 euros more (€269)
(benchmark tabel)

that way I can update some other parts like the graphics card, after 2 years, without the need af a better system right?

and how much juice do you think that baby needs? 500w? 550w? 600w?

something like this

But that would be 900+ euros, so a bit more then I wanted.

[T-Bag]

If the i3 and i5 have the same chipset then that's the way forward, because it allows an upgrade. I just don't like being in a dead end CPU wise.

PSU wise I'm on a 730Watt. I think 600Watt will do the job for that system though.

[Tutonic]

If it were me I'd ditch the 1TB drive, replace it with 2 500GB drives (or whatever the budget allows) and RAID 'em (striped or mirrored - your choice).

[kregoron]

id save up a hundred more euro and drop that cpu, it was not meant for gaming..

the i3 5xx and the i5 6xx are with integrated GPU's on the cpu, hence the price, but its your gonna run with a standalone graphics its a waste of fine cash, as the cpu isnt that good on its own..

on the i3 they pretty much disablet all the features that makes the i series awsome, turbo mode, half the cache, Dual core..

if you wish, i could have a look some point tomorrow for a setup for you



and a 400psu is a bit low in these crazy days..

[Luminance]

Hmm maybe your right kreg, maybe I should dump some more memory in my older computer (now has 2x1gb DDR2, can fit 4x2gb DDR2 in it, but think more then 2x2gb DDR2 is overdone), and possibly a faster (and bigger ) harddisk and save up more for a new system nxt year.  Just found out that the Q6600 cpu I got, is still someone in the middle of the highend cpu chart (2900+ points) didn't expected that at all (its almost 3 years old now).

Been looking at more pre-built gamers pcs, and it seems you need to spend atleast 1500 euros combined, to have a really good system, so maybe 700-900 euros is a bit slim, if i want to play the newest games on more then average status.


what is the advantage of that Tutonic?

[Snokio]

what is the advantage of that Tutonic?

Raid 0 = Striped - quicker reading and writing of data, but if one disk dies, you loose your data.
Raid 1 = mirrored - if one fails, your data is safe so long as you replace it, not as quick as raid 0
 
(basically raiding 2 or more disks acts as a single disk)
 
But to use raid you will need a different Motherboard as i believe the one your looking at doesn't support raiding

[Tutonic]

What Snokio said.

RAID 0 is fast, but if one drive fails you lose all the data on both. RAID 1 gives you redundancy but you only the capacity of one of the drives, and no speed boost.

Striping really does give you a massive speed boost, just as long as you're prepared to accept the risk

There are other implementations (RAID 5, 10 etc) but those two are the most common/practical.

[T-Bag]

Just found out that the Q6600 cpu I got, is still someone in the middle of the highend cpu chart (2900+ points) didn't expected that at all (its almost 3 years old now).
?

I'm still on a Q6600, there is no way I'd jump to an i3. It's a very expensive waste of money from where you are. You need new motherboard, ram and CPU. When you are doing an upgrade like that look at what you have and what you gain by it. Rather than ram I'd pick up a faster Q series CPU while you still can. It'll last you till you upgrade fully to an i5 (or i7 if you fancy that tripple channel memory thing)

[kregoron]

the intel Q6600 is still a respectable cpu compared to a i3..
im not really sure where you getting these rating numbers from?

ye upgrading from 2gb to 4gb memory would be a good idea..

i strongly suggest you wait till you saved up some more cash, if you know how to put a rig together, then id find the bits if you want a hand.. you can save a few coins putting it together yourself

[Snokio]

I'm still running on a Q6600 myself too, for me, it's fine atm, although will be looking towards the end of the year for a new rig, at which point some of the prices will drop making it more worth while, load it with Ram and do a fresh install (maybe get a new hdd), I imagine it would speed things up for you

[albert]

Hmm maybe your right kreg, maybe I should dump some more memory in my older computer (now has 2x1gb DDR2, can fit 4x2gb DDR2 in it, but think more then 2x2gb DDR2 is overdone), and possibly a faster (and bigger ) harddisk and save up more for a new system nxt year.  Just found out that the Q6600 cpu I got, is still someone in the middle of the highend cpu chart (2900+ points) didn't expected that at all (its almost 3 years old now).

Been looking at more pre-built gamers pcs, and it seems you need to spend atleast 1500 euros combined, to have a really good system, so maybe 700-900 euros is a bit slim, if i want to play the newest games on more then average status.


what is the advantage of that Tutonic?

I've got a Q6600 clocked at 3.2GHz and it's a gem of a CPU. I'd say keep that for now until the i7s come down in price and then replace. Means you need a mobo that supports both types of course.

[Luminance]

the intel Q6600 is still a respectable cpu compared to a i3..
im not really sure where you getting these rating numbers from?

Benchmark sites, at the moment I'm using this one

As for putting them together, I must admit never to have done it, but my dad has, so I doubt that will be an issue, if not I'll check google . I'm just amazed how much money it saves, compared to the prebuild version, I always thought the biggest difference was the personalization of your pc build to your spec.


As for raid 0, how does backup works, its still easy doable? Say I'd get 2*0.5gb and an external for backup, I'd be safe right? (if I'd back up my stuff from time to time that is)

After all the responses I think I'll do as Albert does, safe up for i7 + matching hardware.

and thanks kreg, I'll be sure to fire away some questions, as soon as I got more cash to spend on my rig.